Home Care as a Solution—7 Compelling Reasons Why it Works

When families need to provide a safer alternative for aging parents rather than having them stay alone and care for themselves, home care can often be the best fit. Why? We’ve outlined 7 compelling reason why home care as a solution works.

Home Care as a Calling

The number one concern for families who are considering outside care for their loved one lies with the person who will be providing assistance. Whether in a facility or at home, the nagging question understandably is “Will the caregiver(s) not just care for my mom, but also care about her?”

The majority of caregivers, and certainly the best of those, will tell you, “I do this because it is my calling.” People who operate from a sense of calling, any calling, are typically happy and productive and care greatly about the outcome of their efforts. This certainly applies to caregivers.

Care Takes Place in the Home, Where Your Loved One Wants to be

An overwhelming contributor to home care as a solution is the setting – the home. The desirable bonding between the care recipient and the caregiver is facilitated by the setting. Getting to know someone and appreciate them as individuals can happen quickly when you are surrounded by their personal affects, shedding light on who they are, what they’ve accomplished, and how they live. In the home setting, the right caregiver quickly assimilates as a trusted part of the family.

Caregivers Have One Responsibility: Your Loved One

How does the quality of care provided by caregivers in a facility compare to care provided at home? All caregivers who operate from their calling, regardless of the setting, are doing their very best. However, consider the difference between being responsible for up to 12 residents vs. caring for only one client at a time. Even the best of caregivers are challenged when their efforts, time, skills, expertise, and loving demeanor are demanded by many. In a home setting, a personalized care plan for one personal (or possibly a married couple) contributes greatly to home care as a solution for many situations.

Reliable & Flexible Caregiver Selection

When it comes to home care, how much input can a family and/or care recipient have when selecting a caregiver? As much as needed or desired to ensure a proper fit. However, companies that invest time in a selection process that yields first-hand information about their caregivers’ personalities, backgrounds, experience levels, and special skill sets are positioned to make a good match quickly. Even so, caregivers can be replaced as often as necessary to find the “enhanced” match that incorporates personalities and cultures as well as experience, skills, and availability.

All reputable agencies require background checks that minimize the potential for unsavory behavior, and those that incorporate unannounced caregiver spot checks and home assessments ensure continued professionalism and quality of care, further contributing to home care as a solution.

Home Care is Often Less Expensive

Is there a point at which the vast amount of non-medical home care needed makes the facility choice a better one? Does the need, for instance, for 24/7 care preclude the stay-at-home option? Actually, a great team of four caregivers rotating 12-hour shifts ensures around-the-clock availability and multiple hands, hearts, and heads to continually provide care and feedback regarding the care recipient’s well being. And even this level of coverage, at a typical rate of $20.00/hour, totals slightly less than the national median cost of a one-bedroom residence in an assisted living community, further solidifying home care as a solution.

Also, state and local programs, such as Medicaid, or long-term care insurance and VA benefits can often off-set much of the expense.

Home Care Works For Everyone

Who can really benefit from home care? Is it only for the elderly? Must the need go beyond help with basic hygiene in order to justify the home care solution? The fact is that most people who are recovering from an illness or accident, regardless of their age, can benefit from assistance with at least some of the activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, and eating), or the instrumental activities of daily living (cooking, cleaning, shopping, and transporting).

Having the opportunity to recover without the stress and struggle of caring for oneself positions home care as a good choice in a variety of circumstances. And remember, assisting someone with basic hygiene is not too basic for the caregiver – it’s their specialty, and the provider of non-medical home care assistance is a specialist.

Respite Care Supports Family Caregivers

There is one other person who should consider home care as a solution. That’s the family caregiver who desperately needs a break. Around-the-clock caregiving produces physical and emotional fatigue, a sense of loss of control over one’s own options, and often a sense of guilt for needing temporary relief. Adding an occasional professional caregiver to the care team is the perfect solution…better than adult day care, better than begging the neighbors, better than doing without respite. Respite care is the perfect solution for many family caregivers.

As you can see, home care is the perfect solution for many people. CarpeVITA Health is redefining home care to include multiple healthcare-related products and services that will be delivered in the privacy and convenience of “home.” Isn’t it time for this approach? After all, regardless of where we are in life, home is where the heart is.